Surrogate
by moosmiles
Summary: When Clare and Glen get into a fight about his role in her life, he is surprised to get a call from her in the middle of the day.


_Title: Surrogate_

_Rating: T_

_Chapter: 1_

_Fandom: Degrassi: The Next Generation_

_Summary: When Clare and Glen get into a fight about his role in her life, he is surprised to get a call from her in the middle of the day._

_Comments: Takes place after "Tonight, Tonight"._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the idea._

Helen knew she was running late for work when she glanced at the oven clock, which was five minutes behind her watch and phone, and she was ten minutes behind on that time. "Clare." She turned around to face her daughter, glued to her phone, at the breakfast bar. "I don't have time to give you a lecture, alright. But I would appreciate you doing the dishes before I get home."

"Fine," Clare grumbled. But when she rolled her eyes at her mother while not budging from her phone, something snapped inside Helen.

"Excuse me," Helen continued to speak. "I have repeatedly asked you to put your phone away when we are having a conversation."

"I was having a conversation with my boyfriend," Clare held her phone up in Helen's direction, "when you interrupted me to talk about something you've told me all week."

"Clare," Helen sighed, putting a hand to her face in exasperation. "The world doesn't stop just because Eli is your boyfriend. You still have responsibilities."

"Yeah, and I said I'd do them," Clare reminded, putting her phone in her pocket, as she walked to the kitchen sink.

"Days ago," Glen interrupted from where he was standing nearby, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Clare, when your mother asks you to do something, you need to do it the first time. Eli can -"

Clare dropped the fork she had picked up back into the sink and spun around to face her step-father. "You're not my father, Glen!" She stormed out of the kitchen and grabbed her purse from the hook by the front door. "Worry about your own damn kid getting high on mushrooms out in the mountains!"

Before either adult could retort, she had slammed the door behind herself and rushed into one of the Martin's Construction trucks in the driveway.

After a short discussion with his wife, Glen had headed to work. He had assured her that Clare hadn't hurt his feelings and even apologized to Helen if he had overstepped, which she agreed that he had not.

He was trying to push past the fight with his stepdaughter, hoping to get some work done at his office before he headed to the construction site.

He knew Helen was also busy today. Some kind of meeting with a board. He hated to admit that he didn't listen to everything when she mentioned her work, but she didn't care for his job either.

Glen had just pulled out a set of blueprints when his cellphone rang. He was expecting it to be one of his workers or the commissioner of a current project. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and furrowed his brow in concern when he saw Clare's name on the screen. That was a fast rush of hormones.

He hit the answer button and pressed the device to his ear. "Clare?"

He could hear soft sniffling on the other end.

"Clare, you there?"

"G - Glen -" She cut herself off with a gasp and then inhaled sharply. "Glen, m - mom. Mom isn't answering. I – I didn't know who to call." She let out a whimper.

"Your mom's probably tied up. She has a big meeting today," he informed. "Is everything okay?"

"I need you guys." Clare started to sob on the other end.

"Alright. Okay. I can come home - "

"N - no!" she practically shouted through what he imagined were tears.

Glen sighed heavily, rolling his eyes.

"Do I need to pick you up from Eli's?"

He honestly didn't want to even see that little punk. He always thought highly of Clare's intelligence and Eli really made Glen question that about her. Her boyfriend gave Clare such a runaround, Glen had considered taking on a protective father role, but knew Clare would loathe him even more than she already did.

"I'm at Mount Sinai."

Glen jumped up from his seat, his heart stopping at the sound of her location. He fumbled with his pockets to make sure he had his wallet and keys. "Hospital?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'm on my way. Okay. Don't you worry about anything. You just sit tight and try to relax. Okay, Kiddo. I'm coming for you."


End file.
